Elias J. Corey
Wolf Prize Laureate in Chemistry 1986
Elias J. Corey
Affiliation at the time of the award:
Harvard University Cambridge, USA
Award citation:
“for outstanding research on the synthesis of many highly complex natural products and the demonstration of novel ways of thinking about such syntheses.”
Prize share:
Elias J. Corey
Albert Eschenmoser
Elias James Corey (born in 1928, USA) enrolled at MIT at the remarkable age of 16. At MIT, he earned both a bachelor’s degree in 1948 and subsequently pursued a Ph.D. under the mentorship of Professor John C. Sheehan, graduating in 1951. Initially inclined towards engineering, Corey’s introduction to science was primarily through mathematics. However, his perspective shifted after his sophomore year when he took his first chemistry course. This led him to reconsider his academic trajectory, prompting him to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. Following this, Corey was invited by Professor John C. Sheehan to continue his studies at MIT for his Ph.D.After completing his doctoral studies, Corey received an appointment at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where, at the remarkable age of 27, he ascended to the position of full professor of chemistry in 1956.
Elias James Corey was the first to synthesize the major-representatives of the two classes of natural products, the prostaglandins and the leukotrienes. The basic strategies, which he set are still those followed in current research programs. The great advances made on the biology of these important substances would not have been possible without his work. His continued efforts in the leukotriene field have revolutionized our knowledge of the molecular basis of inflammation, immunology, and other areas of medicine.
There is scarcely a laboratory involved in complex organic synthesis, which does not use one of Corey’s reagents, diimides, sulfonium ylides, and organometallics on a daily basis. The present wide use in organic synthesis of the many organometallic reagents first introduced by him is indicative of his remarkable vision in the field of synthesis.
Very important has been Corey’s influence in teaching organic chemists to think in novel ways about synthesis. An example of his innovative approaches is his introduction of the concept of retrosynthesis which lent itself well to translation into computer language. His pioneering work has laid the foundation for computer assisted synthesis.